


Recovery

by songofthe52hertzwhale



Category: Dalton Academy Series
Genre: Stuart Trio Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-31 12:20:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18591160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songofthe52hertzwhale/pseuds/songofthe52hertzwhale
Summary: Recovering is hard.It's a little easier when you have friends.





	Recovery

Julian tries to hide it, at first. Tries to conceal his stuttering steps, how quickly he loses his breath. But he barely has enough energy to get out of bed in the morning, and it’s not long before they notice his struggle. 

 

They try not to make a big deal out of it. It’s a quiet agreement between Derek and Logan, that they shorten their steps in the hallway. They try to make it unnoticeable, like they’re both just distracted by their surroundings. They’re sure Julian notices, of course — he’s not stupid by any means, is actually much smarter than people tend to give him credit for. He doesn’t say anything to them about it, but he doesn’t limp quite so much, doesn’t have to stop to catch his breath on the way to class.

 

Still, they insist on flanking him when they walk — Derek on one side, Logan on the other. If he does happen to trip, if his legs crumple beneath him, they’re there to catch him. It’s not just about catching him, though; Julian’s started to tense up, when people get too close. With them on either side, he’s got a bit of a buffer now, people he trusts nearby to keep him safe. 

 

Derek’s the one who insists on accompanying Julian to physical therapy. He hates seeing how frustrated Julian always is when he comes home, hates hearing him complain about the therapists condescending tone. He knows, of course, that Julian’s likely mistaking helpfulness for being talked down to. But he also knows Julian well enough to know what he _will_ respond to, the kind of motivation he needs to get through his exercises. 

 

“You know,” he says one day, when Julian’s struggling with one of his stretches, “You’ll probably have to let all your producers know you’re going to actually require a stunt double now.”

 

The glare Julian shoots him would likely send a weaker man cowering in fear, but Derek just smiles.

 

Julian, he notes, progresses further in a single session than he has the past two weeks. 

 

Catching up on schoolwork is a whole different beast. Julian’s spent years completing homework via correspondence, but he’d fallen months behind as he lay bedridden. It’s enough work that there had been talk of holding him back a year.

 

Logan had stormed into the dean’s office before that news even hit Julian’s ears. He’d fought for Julian’s sake, insisted that he’d find a way to make up the work in time for the end of the semester. Thankfully, Logan makes a surprisingly patient tutor. He sits with Julian whenever they both have free time, goes over geometry proofs and physics lessons. It’s time-consuming and difficult, and Logan’s careful to stop as soon as he notices Julian’s eyelids drooping. 

 

There’s other things they try to protect him from — things they think might trigger him, might remind him of that night. Logan supervises the removal of the rose bushes outside Stuart, has them replaced with curling vines of jasmine instead. Derek firmly lectures the rest of the house, tells them the common room fireplace is strictly off limits. They can’t hide him from everything, of course, try to support him as best they can when he tenses up at the sight of a knife too close, at the sound of someone shouting nearby. 

 

They can’t stop the nightmares, of course. They taper off over time, but those first few terrifying nights where both wake to Julian’s screams are enough to take years off both their lives. 

 

Both of them suggest, more than once, that Julian moves in with one of them. None of the three have roommates, and it’d be so easy to just combine two together. But Julian’s fiercely independent, craves his personal space, wants to feel _normal_ again.

 

Instead, they come to an arrangement. They both already have a key to Julian’s rooms, and now they have his permission to use them any time they hear Julian wake up in the middle of the night. Sometimes it’s both of them, sometimes just one. They’ll slip inside at the first sound of fear, climb into bed and lay with him until his breathing evens, until he’s able to drift off to sleep once more. 

 

But it’s not just Julian having nightmares.

 

His hit more often, it’s true. Derek’s are few and far between. But Logan has more than a handful of sleepless nights, re-lives the fire over and over again in his dreams.

 

It’s always the same — him and Julian, trapped. Julian on the other side of an impossibly tall wall of fire, staring at Logan with wide eyes. He tries, every time, tries so desperately to cross, to save his friend. But he never succeeds, always wakes up in a cold sweat, the sound of his own voice screaming Julian’s name ringing in his ears.

 

Derek’s usually the one to hear him. Julian’s taken to sleeping pills to get through the night, is often asleep too soundly he doesn’t hear Logan’s yells. But Derek will creep in, will wait for him to calm down before asking if he wants company.

 

“Please,” Logan gasps, tonight, “Please, I can’t — he’s okay, right? He’s here and he’s okay?”

 

“He’s okay,” Derek confirms, “Just twenty feet down the hall. I can wake him, if you want.”

 

“No. No, he’s not getting enough sleep as it is. Let him — I’ll be okay.”

 

Derek nods, closes the door behind him and moves across the room to Logan’s bedside. He gestures vaguely with one hand, and Logan scoots over enough to give the other boy room. They don’t cuddle, exactly, just lay pressed side-by-side, their fingers brushing. It helps, having Derek here. Has helped, every time he’s needed it.

 

Tonight, though, the door opens once more. 

 

They both look over at Julian, silhouetted in the doorway. He looks a little hesitant, brings one hand up — hidden beneath the sleeve of a too-big hoodie — to rub at his tired eyes.

 

“Room for me?” He asks softly, his voice rough with sleep.

 

They shift once more, and Derek pats the mattress between them. Julian burrows beneath the blankets, curls up on his side, his forehead pressed against Logan’s shoulder. Derek throws an arm around his waist, squeezes close. It’s a little tight, the three of them. But it’s the only thing that keeps them all calm, that helps them relax enough to get some much-needed rest.

 

It’s a hard thing to work through.

 

But at least they get to work through it together.


End file.
